Skip to main content
ProgramsRecognition

Ten Communities Receive Prestigious State Environmental Award

By March 9, 2015No Comments

On March 3 2015, Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) announced the winners of the 2015 Governor’s Community Achievement Awards, one of the most prestigious annual environmental awards in Texas. The communities of Aubrey, Argyle, Whitehouse, Lockhart, Dickinson, Friendswood, Harlingen, Temple, Lewisville and Houston were selected by a panel of judges to share $2 million from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), to be used for landscaping projects along local rights-of-way within their communities. 

The awards recognize the best grassroots environmental programs in the state, and are awarded in 10 different categories, based on population. Every community in Texas is eligible to apply for a Governor’s Community Achievement Award. A community’s environmental program is judged on achievements in seven different areas: community leadership and coordination, education, public awareness, litter prevention and cleanup, litter law and illegal dumping enforcement, beautification and community improvement, and solid waste management. 

The GCAA program has recognized outstanding communities for more than 46 years, with TxDOT providing landscape funding since 1986. KTB will formally recognize and award these communities during its 48th Annual Conference in Fort Worth, on June 15-17, 2015.

Keep Texas Beautiful, a statewide grassroots environmental and community improvement nonprofit, strives to educate and engage Texans to take responsibility for improving their community environment. KTB and its more than 370 affiliates work with government, businesses, civic groups and volunteers to ensure that every Texan has the opportunity to make Texas the cleanest, most beautiful state in the nation. 

For more information on programs and events, call 1-800-CLEAN-TX or visit www.ktb.org.  Keep Texas Beautiful and TxDOT first began working together in the late 1960s, sharing the common goals of making Texas roadways more attractive and safe for motorists and encouraging tourism, goals which have remained for more than 40 years. Since 1985, KTB has partnered with the TxDOT to support TxDOT’s anti-litter and beautification programs such as Don’t mess with Texas Trash-Off and the Governor’s Community Achievement Awards.

KTB has recognized outstanding communities for more than 46 years via the GCAA program, with TxDOT providing the landscape awards since 1986. 

Pertinent Facts:
Category 1 (up to 3,000): $90,000
Category 2 (3,001 – 5,500): $110,000
Category 3 (5,501 – 9,000): $130,000
Category 4 (9,001 – 15,000): $160,000
Category 5 (15,001 – 25,000): $180,000
Category 6 (25,001 – 40,000): $210,000
Category 7 (40,001 – 65,000): $250,000
Category 8 (65,001 – 90,000): $270,000
Category 9 (90,001 – 180,000): $290,000
Category 10 (180,001+): $310,000
  $2,000,000
  • The Governor’s Community Achievement Award winners are announced annually in the spring. Recognition takes place each year during a ceremony at the annual Keep Texas Beautiful Conference. This year’s conference will be held on June 15-17, 2015 at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel. The winners will be recognized on Tuesday, June 16 at a gala dinner.
     
  • The GCAA is open to all Texas communities. A program entered for competition may consist of more than one community, but one community may not have more than one GCAA entry. A community is defined as a region or regions with shared or adjoining boundaries whose beautification and litter abatement programs are administered by a common organization.